Four New Judges Take Oath, Supreme Court At Full Strength

Four new Supreme Court judges were administered their oaths of office by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi today morning, bringing the strength to its full complement of 31 for the first time in five years. Parliament had, in 2008, sanctioned an increase in the number of judges which previously stood at 27.

The four new justices are BR Gavai, Surya Kant, Aniruddha Bose and AS Bopanna.

The Centre had previously expressed concern over the nomination of Justice Aniruddha Bose of the Jharkhand High Court and Justice AS Bopanna of the Gauhati High Court, citing seniority issues.

Similar concerns were expressed in 2018 over the nomination of Justice KM Joseph. The government was forced to accept his elevation when the collegium reasserted its choice and Justice Joseph took oath in August.